Brothers Apart
by absentmindedgenius
Summary: Why is there a man sitting on the step of a London house? And why does he look so sad?


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A/N  
I don't own any part of the Harry Potter world (unfortunately)  
However, I do own the song "Brothers Apart", which I wrote after reading OotP.

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Brothers Apart 

There is a street in London that is very strange. This is because, to the casual passer by, it appears to be missing a number 12. Nobody worries about this, however, as that is how it has always been.

But a small number of people can see it, and today, those who can, see something more out of the ordinary than is usual for this strange house.

_Looking at that photograph  
__That was taken in your youth  
__Convince yourself that nothing's changed  
__But you can't deny the truth  
__Time has moved on  
__The past is long gone  
__Taking all that once made you strong_

On the step outside the front door of the missing number 12, a man sits with his head in his hands. From a distance, a person could be forgiven for assuming him to be forty or fifty, his hair is greying and his shoulders are slumped as if he carries the weight of the world on them. But closer up, his face gives him away. He cannot be more than thirty six or seven, but his world-weary eyes are those of an old man. A discarded photo album lies on the step beside him.

_Four people look back at you  
__One's been gone for years  
__Another betrayed the friendships bond  
__You know he isn't worth the tears  
__But the third has just passed  
__Meaning you are the last  
__You wonder how time could go so fast_

He is remembering the time when the photos were taken. He clutches one loosely in his hand, of a group of boys. Although times have not been kind to this man, he is easily recognisable in the picture. He stands with three other boys, all of them grinning at the person who is taking the photo. They are obviously a close knit group, but from his face now, it seems that it has changed.

He remembers how the black-haired, hazel-eyed boy with glasses was the first to leave their group. He was a casualty of the war they lived in, but the man can't just leave it at that. That skinny, grinning boy could still be alive now, if it wasn't for the shorter boy who stood next to him. Pale, with a pointed face and a pudding-bowl haircut, he was the one who betrayed his schoolfriend and caused his death. But the man cannot feel angry. His grief is so complete that there is no room for more emotion.

The carefree, innocent bespectacled boy continues to laugh up at the man, but he knows that he isn't really there with him.

_And where he's gone  
__Can he see us here?  
__Does he see  
__His brother shed a tear?  
__Torn apart by hate and lies  
__Reunited all too brief  
__Hope that wherever he has gone  
__He can now rest in peace_

The man blinks. He knows he needs to move on. The betrayal and death occurred over ten years ago. He bids a silent farewell to James Potter, but does not feel the need to do the same for Peter Pettigrew.

_There was no time to prepare for it  
__No chance to say goodbye  
__When you were just getting back together  
__One of you had to die  
__Together for a spell  
__But divided you fell  
__Want to talk, but there's no one to tell_

The fourth boy in the photo, tall and handsome with laughing grey eyes, was also lost to the man for a while. Thought by the whole world to be a traitor, he had disappeared from the day to day life of the silent man for twelve years. But he had returned, and they had started to rebuild their friendship. It was still only a shade of what they had all had at school, but the traitor had seen to it that all that remained of that relationship was a mere memory.

But still, the man had felt less alone. His friend had slowly started to become one of the brothers he had lost again. But it couldn't last. That tall, handsome boy who had become a feared and hunted man, was also dead.

_And where he's gone  
__Can he see us here?  
__Does he see  
__His brother shed a tear?  
__Torn apart by hate and lies  
__Reunited all too brief  
__Hope that wherever he has gone  
__He can now rest in peace_

The man knows he must say another goodbye. This one is perhaps harder than the other. He has had many years to grieve for the hazel-eyed man, but the scars left by the death of the tall one are still raw. But he needs to put it behind him. There is too much at stake for him to allow the luxury of dwelling on it. Head bowed still further, he whispers a final goodbye to Sirius Black

_Back to thirty years ago  
__You're on your own again  
__But this time you remember  
__All about your friends  
__The happy times, the sadnesses  
__The times that you all shared  
__But now when you visit your old haunts  
__You're the only one who's there_

He looks for one last time at the photo. His own image waves back at him, looking content and happy. He was surrounded by his friends, the first friends he ever had. He is suddenly painfully aware of the emptiness that surrounds him now. To know friendship, and then to lose it is perhaps the hardest thing he has ever been through.

He went back to their favourite pub the other day. The décor and barmaid were the same, but the atmosphere was different. Without the jokes and pranks of the two black-haired boys, the air was overwhelmingly oppressive.

He knows that there is no way he can ever get back what he has lost, and it is that fact that has resulted in him sitting here alone for hours. With a sudden compulsive gesture, he thrusts the photo back in the album then, picking it up, he enters the house, leaving the front doorstep as empty as his heart.

_And where they've gone  
__Can they see him here?  
__Do they see  
__Their brother shed a tear?  
__Torn apart by hate and lies  
__Reunited all too brief  
__Hope that wherever they have gone  
__They can now rest in peace_

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A/N: Please review...let me know what you think of the fic, the song, and the whole idea of original songfic. I have plans to write more, if you have any suggestions for the event I should write about, drop me a note at my live journal (the addy's in my profile)

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.


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